By Nick Pernokas 

In what sounds like an old joke, two guys walked into an El Paso bar one night. One had a boot business and the other had a 1953 Cadillac Hearse. But our story actually starts long before that. 

“Marty and I like vintage everything,” says Nevena Christi. Nevena is the self-proclaimed “Boss lady” of Rocketbuster Handmade Custom Boots. 

Her husband, Marty Snortum, was a Virginia-born commercial photographer who had moved to El Paso because he loved the desert southwest. Marty was also infatuated with the quality and design of vintage American manufacturing. His eclectic collection included vintage cars, jukeboxes, ray guns and cowboy boots. El Paso was known as the “Boot Capital of America” and many venerable old boot brands straddled the river. Frequently, he was called on to do shoots for boot companies. Colorful vintage boots were often used as props for the covers of catalogues. In the back of his mind, Marty wondered why the retro styles of the Thirties and Forties weren’t being made anymore. 

One cool December night in 1989, Marty walked into a bar in El Paso, and engaged in some tequila drinking with a German-born entrepreneur who owned a boot business. The boot man admired Marty’s Cadillac that was parked outside. Sometime during the night, a deal was struck and Marty woke up the next morning with two employees, a pile of leather and some sewing machines.  

But fortunately, Marty also possessed a burning desire to make boots like he’d seen in those photo shoots. Marty searched El Paso for craftsmen that had learned the boot trade the old-fashioned way. Marty drew up some vintage inspired patterns. His crew got to work and word got around that someone was making classic Hollywood-style boots again. Marty decided to call his company “Rocketbuster,” combining his love of retro science fiction and the west. 

One of Marty’s first customers was Roy Rogers. Roy loved Marty’s idea about producing new vintage-inspired boots. 

“The next thing you know, Marty is in Roy’s closet talking boots,” says Nevena. 

Many of Roy’s old boots didn’t fit anymore and he was delighted with Marty having an interest in creating new designs for him. Roy ordered new boots for himself, as well as a limited edition for his museum. 

“Not only was Marty able to make himself new vintage boots that fit his super wide feet, but he started meeting all of these great people and having a lot of fun.” 

For six years, Marty had the best of both worlds as he juggled his commercial photography career and his bootmaking one. 

In 1992, Marty purchased an old building in downtown El Paso. The building had been a fur trapper’s warehouse in 1900, and now, as Rocketbuster Headquarters, it fit in perfectly with the vintage image of Rocketbuster. 

In 1994, Nevena called Marty inquiring about boots for the Nicole Miller fashion show. Nevena came from the fashion and fine art world and had in fact graduated from Parsons NYC with a degree in both. Her background was a classic one. In this pre-computer era, she designed textiles and dresses by hand. Nicole had decided they wanted boots for the runway; and they wanted them over the top, with higher heels, taller shafts and wilder art.     

“Every other boot company I called thought it was crazy when I told them what we wanted. I had drawn out all these crazy designs, like peacock feathers and French toile carvings.” 

In contrast, when Marty picked up the phone, he was really enthused about the project. Nicole and Nevena flew out to El Paso, and spent a couple of days with Marty fine-tuning the runway collection. 

Nevena found more than boots in El Paso however. 

“We fell madly in love. We dated cross country for two and a half years.” 

In 1997, Marty asked Nevena to move to Texas. She asked him what she would do there and Marty offered her the boot company. Nevena took the deal and the challenge. A large part of her job was trying to collect debt from stores. In 1997, the recession was in full swing. She closed the shop for a couple of weeks, to find out what she had and how to fix it. Nevena found that she could improve the quality of the pattern making and custom fitting by applying some of the techniques she’d learned in the textile and fashion industry. She also decided that she’d rather work with custom boots for individuals. At that time, it was a much more positive world to work in than trying to collect from stores on boots that had already shipped. 

“I love making boots for individuals because everyone’s feet, legs and calves are different.” 

Nevena doesn’t feel limited by “western.” She feels that any type of artwork is fair game. Whether the boot is for a working cowboy, a rockstar, a wedding or a gala event, Rocketbuster starts from scratch and gives it 200 percent. 

“When you can create a piece of art, tailored to an individual’s dreams and personality, the magic happens. We’re creating the heirlooms of the future.”  

All of the Rocketbuster products are built by their small staff on site. Nevena considers their team of 12, family. Raul, a stitcher that Marty “inherited” originally, still works for Rocketbuster. Pete, the laster, has been with the company since its first year. Nevena still draws every pattern. Marty handles the photography, as well as the bookkeeping. 

Nevena is reluctant to hire more workers because the magic is here now and family dynamics can be unbalanced with the wrong person. That being said, they know the right person when they meet them. 

“Everyone here is really specifically fabulous at their particular job.” 

Growth is not part of the plan. Rocketbuster serves their niche and to become larger would move them away from that sweet spot. 

“I don’t want to be any bigger. I think if you get bigger, you can’t keep an eye on everything and it’s all about the details.” 

Nevena says the last two years have been spectacular for their business. The boots start at $1500, and the wait time is eight months to a year and a half, depending on the difficulty of the boot design. Tooled boots are carved by Rick, who is extremely proficient at following Nevena’s designs. He can only tool so much a day, so the carving can affect the time frame. Currently, Rick is working on a pair of boots that each have a different outer space city scene with robots on them. The next pair will be traditional vintage western. 

“He knows how to do both, whereas if I handed some people something that strange, they just wouldn’t get it. We are in sync. We just did a phoenix flying and catching on fire. The tail is the foot and it’s catching on fire.” 

These designs take a while to create; but when someone gets them, they are like a piece of art, or jewelry, that everyone notices. 

“It’s rockstar all the way.” 

Rocketbuster Boots is a destination, and many people fly in to El Paso to get fit for a pair and then make a weekend out of it. Many celebrities call, or have their people call, to get remote fittings. The celebrity list is truly A-list including Grammy award-winning rapper, and Pulitzer Prize winner, Kendrick Lamar. The latest pair of boots made for Lamar is featured in his “Rich Spirit” music video and includes a family portrait in the design. Sylvester Stallone and Jane Fonda are also some highlights of this year’s boot production. You can check out Jane Fonda’s boots in the new movie 80 For Brady. Another pair will be going to the jewelry designer at Dior. Nevena even helped Arnold Swarzenegger measure his feet on Facetime with his camera mounted on the floor. 

“The only thing our customers have in common is that none of them are boring.” 

Nevena has had a lot of success with their remote boot ordering forms. She double checks everything with shoe size and, with her fashion background, is also familiar with European shoe sizing and brands. 

“I’ve tried to think of enough checks and balances that I can tell if they’ve made a mistake. The first thing on the form should be not to drink wine before you fill it out. I mean, what part of total circumference did you not understand?” 

Nevena also is working on a video to explain the measuring more extensively. She recommends using a non-stretchable ribbon and a yardstick if they do not have a cloth tape measure.  Tape measures are frequently inaccurate. 

Nevena counsels her clients to pick the toe they will be happy looking down at. No matter how narrow the toe, she will design the boot to have about an inch in front of the tip of toes. Most of the women who are looking for something dressier go with the 5/8-inch slightly dull box toe. As a woman’s foot gets bigger, she might suggest a slightly wider toe like a 3/4 inch, in order to keep the balance for appearance. For men, a lot of boot styles are regional. In Houston, men favor a round toe. In Austin, the trend is for 1-inch to 1 ¼-inch dull box toes. Other areas seem to like a wider square toe. For high-end exotics, many men want a boot with a “narrower than a roper” round toe that resembles a shoe for wearing with suits. The toe boxes are hand carved out of leather for each customer, so they can have whatever they want. Popular heels vary. People that walk a lot, as frequently her European customers do, like a lower heel. Customers wanting the old-time cowboy look usually ask for a higher one. Lasts cannot be tilted at different angles for various heels, so Rocketbuster builds their lasts for specific heel heights. If you look at the profile of a boot and the top of the heel is not level, then the last has been cheated at an angle for the heel. This sacrifices arch support and comfort. 

“I have a pair of boots here in the shop that is over 100 years old. They are still soft and beautiful. Our boots may not be vegan, but they are definitely sustainable. That’s why they’re the heirlooms of tomorrow.”   

Rocketbuster boots allow an individual to have something special and personally unique. 

“They can buy a painting, but they can’t wear it around. For girls, you can put on any black dress and your boots, and you win.” 

Customers can get their names or messages stitched inside the boot. Rocketbuster also includes their label in the front of the boot to ensure they’re recognized years from now. 

Rocketbuster uses many leathers including exotics. Nevena feels that one of her favorites, Porosus crocodile, is completely different from American alligator. She prefers it because the ratio from circles to squares is a more uniform size. Her most popular exotic cut for men is a circle cut from the Porosus. It’s the closest thing you can get to a sea turtle, which is reminiscent of the luxury British luggage of the Titanic era.   

“I had a tough time after Covid because Louis Vuitton and Hermès were buying up all of the Porosus crocodile. I can honestly say that I’m now a leather hoarder.” 

Nevena also favors baby calf and kangaroo, but now it is becoming hard to find. She is constantly trying to replenish her stockpile. Nevena is also using dye to create the right shade for each project. 

Additionally, Rocketbuster has a line of handbags that tie in nicely with a pair of boots. These bags are functional, but are large enough to provide the perfect canvas for the Rocketbuster art. They are high-end designer handbags that are lightweight and beautifully lined with thoughtful pockets and zippers. 

“A friend called and said he needed a bag for his wife and it had to be a ‘mom’ bag, with enough room and pockets for stuff.” 

Nevena made the patterns and built a prototype out of fabric to make sure it would work.  

“Then I had to explain it to the guys. So, I brought in a really fancy handbag I had from New York. I said, ‘Look at this. Ours has got to look like this.’” 

Nevena wrote down step-by-step instructions to assemble the bag, because if one step is out of order in the sequence it can ruin the bag. Although no other styles of bags are being planned, they did lead to a line of Christmas stockings, which can be personalized like all of the other Rocketbuster products. The stockings are a fun gift for Christmas parties and are large enough to hold a bottle of wine. 

Boot aficionados will be happy to learn that Rocketbuster’s next venture is a coffee table book, with images from 33 years of one-of-a-kind boots.

For Nevena, it all comes down to a love for her job. 

“If I wasn’t getting dirty, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. If you don’t enjoy cooking, then your food doesn’t taste good.” 

To find out more about Rocketbuster’s products, call 915-541- 1300, or go to rocketbuster.com. The company also has a very active Instagram page under Rocketbusterboots . 

Rocketbuster Handmade Custom Boots 

1115 Anthony Street 

El Paso, Texas 79901